Texas & Region

Texans who could not get through online or via phone lines for an overwhelmed appliance rebate program can still be heard.

The Texas comptroller's office, on its Web site Friday, provided a way for consumers to respond to the program involving more than $20 million in federal stimulus funds.

The Web site says: "All rebate and waitlist reservations have been filled. Thank you for your patience and interest in the Texas Trade Up program. We experienced an unprecedented response. We know many people had trouble getting through. You can provide comments here."

The state agency is investigating what went wrong Wednesday.

BROWNSVILLE

A now-former postal worker in South Texas must serve nearly five years in federal prison over a marijuana-by-mail scheme.

U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno said 45-year-old Eva Zamora of San Benito was arrested in August. Zamora in November pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Investigators say 16 parcels processed by Zamora were seized by post office personnel. She was videotaped processing 57 similar packages, each with about 20 pounds of marijuana.

WACO

It took a McLennan County jury just two hours to determine that Texas country singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver is not guilty of aggravated assault in the shooting of another man in a bar parking lot.

Shaver testified Friday that he acted in self-defense when he shot Billy Coker in the face near Waco. But prosecutors maintained that no other witnesses described Coker as "violent or mean."

Shaver, who lives in Waco, rose to country music stardom in the 1970s. Shaver, who wrote "Georgia on a Fast Train" and "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)" has recorded more than 20 albums.

BRIEFLY ...

l HOUSTON - A Harris County sheriff's deputy fatally shot a combative man during an early morning struggle at the suspect's Houston-area home. Christopher Lee died at the scene. Authorities declined to name the deputy who was involved.

l BROWNSVILLE - A Texas judge has dismissed charges against a former South Texas district attorney. Former Cameron County District Attorney Yolanda de Leon was indicted in 2008 on perjury and tampering with governmental records.

l DILLEY - Texas prison authorities are investigating whether someone on the outside helped two inmates flee from the Briscoe Unit through a hole cut in a fence. Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Friday that the inmates, both Mexican nationals, were still on the loose.

l DALLAS - The last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad is chugging its way through Texas as part of the Valley Eagle heritage tour. Locomotive No. 844 pulled into North Texas early Friday afternoon. The tour is named for a Missouri Pacific passenger train, the Valley Eagle, which formerly operated between Houston and Brownsville.

l FORT WORTH - A Fort Worth theater has withdrawn its offer to stage a student play about a gay Christ-like figure that was canceled at a small-town campus. The Terrence McNally play "Corpus Christi" premiered in New York in 1998 and is considered blasphemous by critics.

l LUFKIN - A jury in Lufkin has ordered life in prison for an alleged Aryan Brotherhood of Texas leader over the 2009 abduction and assault of a woman he had dated. Stephen Dewayne Wallace was convicted Thursday of kidnapping, ordering five lower-ranking prison gang members to snatch the woman because he feared she was leaving him.